Americans United - Luigi Tostihttps://www.au.org/tags/luigi-tosti
enThe Italian Job: Religious Right Lawyers Sell Out Minority Evangelicals In Crucifix Casehttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-italian-job-religious-right-lawyers-sell-out-minority-evangelicals-in
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Religious Right zealots are so obsessed with opposing secular government they’re willing to throw their own coreligionists under the church bus. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Religious Right legal groups are all excited over a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights dealing with crucifix displays in public schools in Italy.</p>
<p>The European high court, ruling 15-2, overturned a lower court decision and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8391092/Crucifixes-can-be-displayed-in-EU-schools.html">declared</a> that the crucifixes can stay. They don’t oppress anyone’s rights, the court said, and European nations are entitled to some latitude in dealing with topics such as this.</p>
<p>The legal challenge was brought by Soile Lautsi, a Finnish woman who now lives near Venice, where her children attend public schools.</p>
<p>Justices with the Strasbourg, France-based court wrote, “While the crucifix was above all a religious symbol, there was no evidence before the court that the display of such a symbol on classroom walls might have an influence on pupils.”</p>
<p>As you might expect, the Vatican was <a href="http://www.lifeinitaly.com/news/en/crucifix-ruling-historic-says-vatican">pretty excited</a>. But the European Centre for Law and Justice, a branch of TV preacher Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice, was elated. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) also hailed the ruling. (Both groups had filed briefs urging the court to uphold the crucifixes.)</p>
<p>I found the reaction of the Religious Right legal groups to be most curious. Both of these organizations are largely evangelical Christian in character. Why are they celebrating the elevation of a Roman Catholic symbol by the Italian government?</p>
<p>Their coreligionists – evangelicals who actually live in Italy – aren’t so pleased with the outcome. The Italian Federation of Evangelical Churches called the ruling “a decision that does not fully realize a secular state” and “baggage from a society dominated by Catholic culture.”</p>
<p>Added the evangelical churches, “Crucifixes will continue to be present in schoolrooms and courtrooms, but for the minorities who won religious and civil rights 150 years ago, such as the evangelical churches, these crosses do not convey a common sense of belonging.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, when the ADF sent out an email about the cases, it was headlined, “Crosses can stay in Italy’s classrooms, European Court rules.” I find it hard to believe that anyone at the ADF is that theologically ignorant. A cross and a crucifix are not the same thing. The latter includes a depiction of the body of Christ; although common in Catholic and some Orthodox churches, it’s not a symbol used by Protestants.</p>
<p>So, the ACLJ and the ADF are celebrating a court ruling that elevates a majority faith and actually takes away the rights of minority evangelicals. These Religious Right zealots are so obsessed with opposing secular government they’re willing to throw their own coreligionists under the church bus. Yet, both groups expect us to believe that they don’t want religious majority rule in America.</p>
<p>Historically, evangelicals in Italy have had a tough time of it. Catholicism was the government-enforced faith for many centuries, and Italian officials weren’t known for religious tolerance. The persecution, torture and murder of the Waldensians in the 11th and 12th centuries is just one example.</p>
<p>Italy was formed around 1860 when various states in the region were pulled together. Originally a kingdom, the country’s modern constitution, adopted in 1947, protects religious liberty – on paper, at least. Article VIII says all religious confessions “are equally free before the law.”</p>
<p>In reality, the Catholic Church has long enjoyed a favored relationship with the state. A concordat signed between church officials and future fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1929 guaranteed church control of education. Classroom crucifixes symbolized the church-state embrace.</p>
<p>Provisions of the concordat – known as the Lateran Treaty – were incorporated into the 1947 constitution. Article VII of that document states, “The State and the Catholic Church are, each within its own order, independent and sovereign. Their relationship is regulated by the lateran pacts. Amendments to these pacts which are accepted by both parties do not require the procedure of constitutional amendments.”</p>
<p>The 1929 concordat was updated in 1984. The new pact declared that Catholicism was no longer the sole religion of the Italian state. But it also called Catholicism part of the “historical heritage of the Italian people,” and the government promised that the faith would be taught “in state schools of every order and grade, excepting universities.” (Classes are voluntary.)</p>
<p>Crucifixes are also common in Italian courtrooms. Not everyone thinks this is a good idea. Luigi Tosti, a Jewish judge who protested the presence of crucifix in his courtroom in the city of Camerino was fired, and his dismissal was <a href="http://www.lifeinitaly.com/news/top-court-upholds-sacking-anti-cross-judge">later upheld</a> by Italy’s highest court. (Tosti said the recent ruling on classroom crucifixes is “grotesque.”)</p>
<p>One more thought on this: Italy, like the rest of Western Europe, isn’t exactly a church-going nation these days. Some scholars put the church attendance rate at about <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1543643/Italian-church-attendance-lower-than-thought.html">15 percent</a>. Declarations by courts that the presence of the crucifix isn’t that important any more aren’t going to reverse that trend.</p>
<p>Consider what the court said: The crucifix doesn’t affect pupils. But isn’t it supposed to? Isn’t that the very idea behind displaying it? But we’re told that the major symbol of the country’s dominant religion has become like wallpaper – after a while, you don’t even notice it anymore, and it has no affect on anyone. Can someone explain to me how this is good for religion?</p>
<p>Most likely, Italy will end up looking like a lot of other nations in Western Europe. It will have a “Christian heritage” and all of the trappings of faith (religious symbols in government buildings, tax aid to churches, maybe even an official state church) – it just won’t have many people who actually attend services or take religion very seriously. (Has anyone been following the <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/236150/Sexy-pictures-add-heat-to-Silvio-Berlusconi-scandal">antics</a> of that good and faithful Catholic Silvio Berlusconi lately?)</p>
<p>So the ACLJ and the ADF saved the symbol. Nice job. But their victory rings hollow because it represents the ultimate triumph of symbolism over substance. I find it hard to believe that the win is in the long-term interests of religious vitality.</p>
<p>And it certainly doesn’t bolster true religious liberty. Ask the evangelical Christians in Italy.</p>
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</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religion-public-schools-and-universities">Religion in Public Schools and Universities</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-mottos-pledges-and-resolutions">Religious Mottos, Pledges and Resolutions</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alliance-defense-fund-adf">Alliance Defense Fund (ADF)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-center-law-and-justice-aclj">American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/italy">Italy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/luigi-tosti">Luigi Tosti</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/silvio-berlusconi">Silvio Berlusconi</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/soile-lautsi">Soile Lautsi</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vatican">Vatican</a></span></div></div>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:48:35 +0000Rob Boston2176 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-italian-job-religious-right-lawyers-sell-out-minority-evangelicals-in#comments